AG: ‘State attorneys knocking on open door’

Attorney General Glenda Morean said yesterday that protesting State attorneys were knocking on an open door where she was concerned, and they should know that.

Speaking to reporters, she said she was very sympathetic towards all her staff, in particular the legal staff, who operated under trying circumstances. “And I have been doing all that I can to ensure that we alleviate some of the problems,” she stated. But she advised protesting lawyers to “first talk it out, let us hear (what you have to say)...I don’t think that was done in this case.” Morean yesterday launched a website at the Ministry. Speaking to reporters after the function, she said although the AG department had been taking on additional legal staff, the problem was not at the lower level. Rather it was at the middle and upper levels, she said, adding that what tended to happen was that once young attorneys got two years’ experience in the department, they left. “The difficulty really is having such terms that are attractive enough to sustain their interest in remaining in the department,” she said. The AG stated that an exercise was being done for the JLSC in terms of appraising the conditions of service for State attorneys. That exercise is not completed as yet. In the interim, she wanted attorneys to state what they wanted. “Perhaps I can do something,” she said.

The AG, who met the Director of Public Prosecutions, Geoffrey Henderson, last Friday, said that he indicated to her that he had preliminary discussions with the attorneys and that they were to come back to him with concrete suggestions. On the CJ’s statements which likened junior State attorneys to going to Lords with “coconut” bats, she said what she thought was being said by the CJ was the fact that in a lot of these cases, the accused is able to afford high priced lawyers and in those cases, a less experienced person should not be sent. The launch of the Ministry’s website — www.ag.gov.tt. — was witnessed by many secondary school students, law students, principal of Hugh Wooding Law School, Annestine Sealey and other interested persons.  She said the website would allow users to e-mail the attorney general directly with questions, concerns and even suggestions.

Stating that the experts told her that a significant percentage of the websites available were exercises in vanity, she said the Ministry had taken great pains to ensure that the focus of the website would be the work of the Ministry and not the incumbent who happens to hold the post of attorney general. “Our first objective was the creation of an Internet presence, which would become the first port of call for anyone wishing to learn the government’s position on legal and constitutional matters as well as legislative and other issues,” she said. She said the website would also provide information on Government’s legislative agenda — “Never mind what they say in Parliament. We do have a legislative agenda,” as well as critical issues like the Caribbean Court of Justice and Family Court. Some of the objectives of the website, she outlined, were to educate the public on the operations, objectives and activities of the AG and the Ministry of the AG and to provide a feedback and interaction point for the Trinidad and Tobago public and other target audiences with respect to laws, regulations and current affairs.